


Can you date a ghost?

by dealio (orphan_account)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Ghost!Lance, Halloween, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, amateur ghost hunter keith, ghost hunter!keith, ghost lance, lance is smooth and a bit of a trickster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 07:59:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12250260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/dealio
Summary: As soon as he was home, though, instead of going to bed like any sensible student would, he was on his computer, frantically typing into yahoo answers: Can you date a ghost?Details: So I was checking out this haunted mansion and I met this boy there who claimed to own it. We hit it off and he's really cute. But he turned out to be a ghost??? Is it possible to date a ghost??? Only serious answers, please!





	Can you date a ghost?

In retrospect, he should not have come alone. Any paranormal investigator, even rookie in rank, will tell you never to venture off on your own. It might as well be one of the ten commandments of ghost hunting. Thou shalt always bring a buddy. There was probably also one in there about trespassing, which Keith was breaking as well. But then again, when did Keith ever follow the rules? Especially when he got a wild hair and couldn’t contain himself.

Keith had always a hankering of sorts for the paranormal, whether it be ghosts, demons or cryptids. Not that he had any experiences of his own. The closest he had come to the strange experiences was when he was in middle school and a band poster fell off his wall in the middle of the night. He had hidden under the blankets until morning, too scared in the dark to get up and investigate. 

Shiro told him he watched too much of those ghost hunting shows, that they would give him nightmares. And sometimes they did, he wasn’t going to lie. Being scared is nothing to be ashamed of. Even the most seasoned investigators got scared from time to time. And if he was going to be one day, he figured he might as well “study” all he can.

So when Keith had learned about the haunted mansion on the far end of town and the possible paranormal activity there, he had jumped on the chance to explore for himself- and perhaps get some on-the-job experience under his belt to boot. 

Unfortunately for him, the only friends he had couldn’t be bothered to chase ghosts in some abandoned house in the middle of the night. Pidge Holt, who was the daughter of one of the teachers who was friends with his brother, and Hunk Garrett, the aspiring engineer that usually tagged along to all Keith’s antics to act as the voice of reason, but was unfortunately out sick that day. 

“You seriously expect me to go galavanting around town with you to chase demons and the Mothman on a school night when I have a physics final tomorrow morning? I have studying to do,” Pidge had said.

“Come on, Pidge. You’re a genius, you’ll ace it regardless,” Keith argued.

She fixed him with an intimidating glare, “How do you think I got that way in the first place, Keith? By studying!”

Well, that was that. A resounding no by Pidge Holt. And Hunk would likely talk him out of it if he called. Not that it would deter him any. He might have asked Shiro to go with him, but his brother was out of town this week at some coaches convention and wouldn’t be home till Friday. He could have waited, and he did try, but the call to explore was too great for Keith to ignore, and that’s how he found himself standing outside of the old place in the dead of night. 

The house itself wasn’t much to boast about and barely qualified as a “mansion.” In fact, the only thing extravagant about it was its Victorian architecture and it’s size. From outside the house clearly had three stories and Keith already knew it had a basement from prior research. 

There wasn’t any kind of horrific backstory to the paranormal activity though, just that people had reported strange occurrences inside and around the house. Like getting tapped on the shoulder and turning to find nothing there, or wallets being lifted right out of their pockets only to find them sitting on a table by the door. Whatever was here sounded playful, and it put a little bit of ease back into Keith’s nerves about coming here alone. 

Not five minutes in, though, he had already run into his first problem. The front door was locked up tight and even Keith didn’t know how to pick a lock. So he walked around the house via the wrap-around porch, checking every window to see if it would open, and even the backdoor to no avail. As he circled back around to the front of the house he was about to call it quits and head back home, when he saw the front door was cracked open, almost invitingly so. 

For a long time he just stared at it, contemplating whether or not to take the invitation or to turn tail and book it back home before he bit off more than he could chew. Every logical bone in his body was screaming for him to do the later, but his curiosity must have been the one in control, as he found himself slowly approaching the threshold. 

He almost believed the door would slam in his face as soon as he got close, but it didn’t, and he gingerly pushed it all the way open before stepping inside. 

The interior was more or less what he expected. Old, creaky floorboards and old, Victorian era furniture with eclectic decor that packed the walls and shelves. It might have been homely if it wasn’t so musty. And there wasn’t anyone keeping up with the house, as far as Keith knew whoever owned the home was simply letting it rot to shambles, so there was the obvious decay present. 

Moving from the foyer into what he surmised was a parlor, he tested a rather ornate looking clawfoot chair before settling down into it to begin his investigation. Then he waited. 

The house was quiet, save for the occasional groan of the old wood and the tick-tocking of an old grandfather clock in the room with him that Keith was surprised to see still worked. It chimed at eleven o’clock, which made him nearly jump out of his skin. But otherwise, all was still inside the house. Up until the clock chimed midnight.

Keith had been dozing off, no longer on high alert. The chime of the clock didn’t do much to rouse him either, and he quickly relaxed again when it had finished. He knew he should have just gone home, he could practically hear his bed calling to him. But his drive to see this through had stayed his feet. So he sat there, nodding off and drooling on himself in an old smelly chair in an old smelly house on the edge of town on a school night. 

Simply riveting. 

Suddenly, he felt the hair in his eyes being parted, and he lurched forward with a start. Instinctively he smacked a hand to his forehead, feeling for a bug or something that would explain it. But he felt nothing. He looked around at the windows, maybe one was open and a gust of wind had blown through. But they were all shut tight, just like they had been before when he had checked. 

He was just catching his breath when he distinctly felt a hand carding through the hair at the nape of his neck. 

He practically jumped out of the chair and scrambled back out into the foyer. Whatever was going on was turning out to be more than he bargained for. He had expected some strange noises, maybe a cold chill here and there, but not to be straight up groped. 

His heart raced as he felt around for the doorknob, and nearly stopped when he found it locked. 

“Wh-What the-” he whispered to himself as he jiggled the knob. Finally, he tried to disengage the lock, but that too wouldn’t budge. 

In a desperate attempt at freedom, he darted through the house, nearly crashing into the back door as he tried to wrench it open. To no avail, that door was locked up just as tight at the front. 

“Hey.”

His heart was booming too loudly in his chest and he was too scared and too desperate to get out of the house that he didn’t hear the distinctly human voice behind him. 

In the moment of sheer panic, Keith was ready to put himself through a window just to get out. The glass panes in these older houses were thin and frail and the wood muntins would snap like twigs. He might come out the other end with a few scratches he was willing to deal with it at that point.

“Hey!”

He grabbed a knife out of his pocket and brandished it as he spun around, back pressed tightly against the door. 

There, standing in the doorway to the kitchen, stood a teenage boy. He was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest, gazing suspiciously at Keith. 

“Who- Who are you?” Keith stammered, still pointing the pocket knife at him.

The boy scoffed, “Who am I? I’m the person who caught you breaking into my house, that’s who I am!”

Keith deadpanned, “Your house?”

“Yeah,  _ my _ house! What are you doing in  _ my _ house?” the boy demanded.

Keith quickly dropped the arm that brandished the knife, folding it back up and shoving it back into his pocket. 

“I uh… well you see, um…. I was…” Keith stumbled over his words, wanting to explain himself but not wanting to come across as crazy. The guy probably wouldn’t even believe him if he told the truth, and he wanted to make it out of this without a call to the police. 

“Look,” he took a deep breath, “This has all been a misunderstanding, alright? I thought the place was abandoned. I didn’t steal anything, I swear.”

The boy pushed off the doorframe and walked closer to him. In the light of the moon shining in through the window, Keith could finally see his face. He was stunning and Keith’s heart hammered again, though this time not out of fear.

“Well it’s not, and you better not have,” the boy scolded as he stopped just in front of Keith. Then he cracked a sly smile and his eyes flitted up and down, giving him a once over, “But since you’re cute I’ll let it slide.” 

Before Keith could even form a reply, not that it would have been coherent anyway, the boy was already moving away from him, strolling through the doorway into the kitchen. 

He heard the door to a fridge open, and the boy hummed thoughtfully, “I’d offer you something to drink but it seems I have some grocery shopping to do.”

Keith, willing his jelly legs to move, followed him, “I-I’m okay, thanks anyway… I should… I should probably just get going.”

“What’s the rush?” The boy said as he stood up and shut the fridge door.

“It’s… very late and I’m trespassing and I’m sure you want me out of here as soon as possible. I’m sorry, by the way, for the intrusion,” Keith explained as he fidgeted.

“It’s okay,” he said with a cheery smile, then it dropped and a forlorn expression passed over his face, “I don’t get a lot of visitors, so it’s actually kinda nice, as weird as that sounds.”

And then he walking up to Keith again, that same smug smile playing on his lips. Not.. not that Keith was looking at his lips mind you.

“I’ll consider your company compensation for the breaking and entering,” he said in a low, hushed tone that made Keith’s heart jump into his throat. 

“The name’s Lance, by the way,” the boy added with a sultry smile.

“K-Keith,” Keith stuttered, swallowing the lump in his throat. 

“Well, K-Keith, let’s go sit out on the front porch. It’s a beautiful night, almost as beautiful as you,” Lance drawled with a wink.

“O-Okay,” Keith croaked, following behind him like a lovesick puppy.

-

They talked for a while, the clock chimed two times that Keith knew of as they sat outside on the front steps. Lance was open and chatty, and Keith was content to sit and listen to him ramble. 

But he was also guarded, hesitating to talk about certain things or to answer certain questions- as if he had to make them up first- and Keith wondered if he was hiding something. But then again, this guy was a stranger, and Keith was a stranger to him. And he had every right to withhold facts from him.

Lance was funny and often laughed at his own jokes. But it was so cute and endearing that Keith couldn’t even find it slightly annoying, even if he tried. Sometimes he’d even catch himself staring goofily at the boy and have to contain himself before Lance noticed. Not that it mattered much. Lance seemed to be just as into Keith as Keith was to him. Was it possible to fall in love with a stranger in a few short hours?

“So… you said you don’t get many visitors. Do you live here alone?” Keith asked, picking at a nail in the step he was seated on.

“Yeah, kinda,” Lance replied nonchalantly, looking up at the stars.

“Kinda?” Keith repeated, “What do you mean, kinda? You live here alone? Everyone thinks this place is abandoned and no offense but… it really looks like it too. Are you… Are you squatting here?”

Lance scoffed, “Squatting? No, I’m not  _ squatting _ here, Keith. My family is uh… on vacation.” 

“Without you?” Keith asked, his brows furrowing skeptically. 

“Didn’t wanna go,” Lance answered with a shrug, “I’m more of a staycation kinda guy.”

“When will they be back?” Keith pressed suspiciously.

“Uh.. you know, soon… ish,” Lance replied with a coy smile. 

Keith didn’t believe him, and he wondered just what Lance was hiding from him, but he didn’t badger him any further and let the subject drop. Regardless, it wasn’t really any of his business.

“I’ll be honest with you, you aren’t the first person I found wandering around my house in the middle of the night,” Lance said, “One  _ was _ a squatter and I had to scare him off. Nearly broke one of the windows trying to jump out.”

“Really? How did you scare him so badly he felt he needed… to…” Keith trailed off remembering how scared he was earlier and how, in his desperation to escape, he had considered jumping out of a window. 

“Oh, I have my ways,” Lance replied with a cryptic smile, “In fact, you’d be surprised how many people come here looking for ghosts. They think this house is haunted or something,” he added with a laugh.

“Y-Yeah,” Keith replied timidly, “Weirdos.”

“I have to say, though, you are the cutest person to ever break into my house. I’m kinda glad you did,” Lance said.

Keith felt his whole body flush, “I’m… uh… thanks?”

Lance propped his chin in his hand and grinned at Keith, “You’re even cute when you’re flustered,” and then he tilted his head ever so slightly and batted his eyelashes at him, “Do you wanna kiss me, Keith?”

“I uh…” Keith’s heart began to hammer away again inside his ribcage and, despite the cool night air, he was burning up.

He hadn’t expected Lance to be so forward, but then again everything about him was unexpected. 

Lance giggled, “Well? Do you?”

“I… y-yes,” Keith rasped. 

Lance smiled wider and leaned in towards Keith until their noses bumped, causing Keith to blush again and Lance to giggle, which only furthered to fluster Keith even more.

“Is this your first kiss, Keith?” Lance asked, eying his lips. 

“No! I mean… sort of…” Keith admitted shyly.

“Well, then I’ll do my best to make it… out of this world,” Lance whispered, and he moved forward, closing that small gap, and pressed his lips to Keith’s.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, and Keith wasn’t sure he made for a very good kisser. But boy was Lance a good kisser, and his lips left Keith feeling some kinda way. They were so warm, which was strange in the cool weather, but Keith was too busy relishing in the moment to care about the technicalities. All he cared about was how good Lance smelled and how good his lips felt pressed up against his own.

Lance’s hands came to rest on his shoulders and Keith, feeling emboldened, placed his hand on the small of Lance’s back. Lance hummed, smiling into the kiss and he carded his fingers into the hair at the back of Keith’s neck in a way that felt so familiar. But Keith wasn’t exactly in a diligent state of mind. 

Lance pulled away slowly and Keith chased after him with a soft whine causing the boy to giggle and snap him back to reality. 

“What it good, pretty boy?” Lance asked.

“That was… yeah…” he swallowed the lump in his throat before continuing, “Lance, can... Can I see you a-”

Just then the clock in the parlor chimed again. It was getting incredibly late, and Keith really ought to be getting home and getting some sleep. He too had a final in the morning that he’d rather not be half asleep for.

Reluctantly he turned away from Lance to peer into the window to the parlor at the grandfather clock face. It read three am. He was supposed to be up in three hours and as much as he didn’t want to leave, he knew he had to.

“Of course you can see me again,” Lance cooed beside him. 

Keith turned to begin his farewell, maybe even promise to stop by after school later. But what he found seated beside him was not Lance. It was Lance but he was… wispy, glowing and… slightly transparent. Keith froze and his mouth hung open in disbelief as he gaped at the apparition.

“Of course I’m a little more myself between the hours of midnight and three am,” Lance finished, a playful grin on his face at seeing Keith’s reaction.

Keith shot to his feet and backed away so fast he nearly fell down the stairs. 

“Lance... You’re a… you’re a…” 

“What’s the matter, Keith? You look like you’ve seen a  _ ghost _ ,” Lance mocked, feigning innocence. Though the sly smile on his face betrayed him of any on his part.

He got up and sauntered over to Keith, who stood there frozen in place. Shock and awe plastered on his face. Lance placed a hand on the side of Keith’s neck. He couldn’t even feel the pressure of it, just the coldness emanating from Lance’s now ethereal body. 

“You should probably go home and get some sleep. You come back and see me when you’re ready, pretty boy,” Lance said, his voice echoed, here and distant at the same time. 

The boy leaned forward again, beginning to dissipate and disappear, and Keith felt a tingling chill against his lips just before Lance was gone completely, leaving him alone in the front yard of the house. 

He stood there for a few seconds, completely dumbfounded at what had just occurred. He had seen a ghost. A cute ghost. And they had… kissed. He was still shaking as he walked back to his bike and, not wanting to risk falling over completely, decided to walk it home instead. 

As soon as he was home, though, instead of going to bed like any sensible student would, he was on his computer, frantically typing into yahoo answers:  _ Can you date a ghost? _

**Author's Note:**

> This is rough and it sucks but I had this idea since last year and I wanted to make it happen this year so here it is the ghost!lance fic nobody asked for as an early Halloween present 
> 
> tumblr @tryforce


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